Currently, technology that provides a variety of services to a terminal, such as a smartphone, using a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) based beacon has been developed. A service provided to a user terminal includes, for example, a location information service associated with a location at which a beacon is located or a product to which a beacon is attached, a coupon providing service, price information providing service, a payment service, and the like.
A beacon broadcasts data that includes an identifier, for example, a Universally Unique Identifier (UUID) defined by a manufacturer of each beacon or a service provider. The UUID is received at a terminal of a user, and the user uses a service provided from the service provider by executing an application associated with the beacon on the terminal. However, the beacon separately operates by the service provider that provides the service. To utilize a corresponding service, the user is to install and execute a separate application developed for the service on the terminal of the user. It may cause unnecessary consumption of resources at the terminal of the user, which may lead the user to have some negative ideas about a beacon service.
Also, if the terminal, for example, a smartphone, of the user receives the UUID from an unknown beacon and a relevant application is not installed on the terminal, the user may not identify a service associated with the UUID. Only a single service may be provided using a beacon. The user needs to take some cumbersome to install and execute an application for each service on the terminal. Further, the more the number of companies providing a beacon related service, the more the user is to accept such unnecessary service as spam.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a beacon service providing method and a beacon device that may provide multiple services, that is, a plurality of services, using a single beacon, and may not demand installation and execution of an unnecessary application on a terminal to provide a variety of services to a user through the terminal.
Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2014-0097074, published on Aug. 6, 2014, discloses a system and method of advertisement and auto-order for restaurant using beacon (Bluetooth) technology that may push and send a coupon or an advertising message to a customer passing by a corresponding restaurant using a beach technology (transmittable by 50 m).
The aforementioned information is provided only to help in understanding and may include content not used to form a portion of the related art and may not include content that the related art may present to those of ordinary skill in the art.